1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sanitizing device for scrubbing an inside surface of a mouthpiece and an earpiece of a telephone handset with a disinfectant to prevent the spread of disease.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There is a possibility that a prior user making intimate contact with a mouthpiece and an earpiece of a telephone, particularly a public telephone, may transfer germs that could be spread to a subsequent user positioning the mouthpiece and earpiece in the immediate vicinity of his or her mouth and ears. While the possible spread of disease through public telephones has been a concern for years, no commercially successful device for sanitizing a telephone handset has been developed. Further work is motivated by the increased resistance of germs to antibiotics, making the best treatment, prevention of infection by use of disinfectants.
Prior art sanitizing devices for a telephone handset have been of four types. A first type provides a pad or cup which is attached to the mouthpiece or earpiece by the subsequent user. The pad or cup may be treated with a disinfectant but muffles the sound. Another type of device applies a pressurized or gaseous disinfectant when the handset is placed in a cradle. Gaseous disinfectants have not proven satisfactory due to potential mechanical problems with the activation mechanism as well as due to the present concern relating to propellants and inhaling the disinfectant. A third type of sanitizing device makes use of a source of germicidal rays such as an ultraviolet lamp. This system, however, requires a source of electrical energy not commonly available at public pay telephones. The last kind of sanitizing device uses a sponge impregnated with a liquid disinfectant somehow wicked or otherwise supplied to the pad to keep it wet. This type of device tends to dry out and the sponge gets dirty, even if it is wet with disinfectant, as those bacteria resistant to the disinfectant, potentially even more virulent to a subsequent user, tend to multiply. In addition, none of the prior art devices provides a means for scrubbing the mouthpiece or earpiece.